Thursday, January 27, 2011

Muffins!

I though I'd start this blog up again with a bang. Two old favorite recipes and a yummy new one. I'll start with the new recipe. In the last year I have dived into bread making and discovered I really like baking with yeast, and the whole step by step process. It kind of suits my type A personality. Plus the smell of fresh baking bread doesn't hurt either. So today, between school runs, dropping off a deposit on a new house, grocery shopping, picking up a school uniform, and keeping my toddler entertained, I decided to make some homemade english muffins (as you do when you haven't sat down all day.....what am I like?) I changed up the recipe a bit to healthy it up by making it whole wheat. They were a hit with the kids, and pretty quick and easy to make as bread goes. I'm looking forward to breakfast sandwiches in the morning.

Whole Wheat English Muffins

1 Cup (125 g) whole wheat bread flour

1.5 Cups (204 g) strong white bread flour

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 Tbsp room temp butter

1 Cup (8 oz) milk (I used almond milk, but you can use any unsweetend milk)

Cornmeal (Polenta)

In a large bowl mix both flours, sugar, salt and yeast. Add in butter and milk and start kneading dough for about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise for 1 hour.

Lay parchment paper on baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal lightly. Divide dough in to 6 even balls and place on baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 180. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat and add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil. Place dough balls in skillet and brown each side, about 5 minutes each side. Once they have finished browning, place dough balls , which should have flattened while in the skillet, on a baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, or until the muffins sound hollow when tapped. Cool muffins on a cooling rack about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container